~ PRR Sh complish in these pages. beautiful country; its history it is is extensive. It is old coun- our sails. So simple a question as different answers. We're stil one. 1 not sure we have the right accomplished our purpose. Xx » » ' Thanksgiving is a state of mind, with stuffing. At this season of the y as well as a roast turkey crammed ear, when the word “thanks” is pin- tries of the world. thing to do, to decry our customs, our exuberant national youthfulness, to compare our straightforward citi- zens unfavorably with the suaver product of other lands. The Readers Digest, for example, is dubbed a propaganda medium, in quotes: ‘It's theme song is that this is the best possible country in the best possible world of the best possible universe.’ {What's wrong with that kind of propaganda ? Don’t we truly believe that this is the best country in the world? And if we don’t, why are we living here and enjoying its benefits when we might be walking a chalk-line somewhere across the ocean? And this world we are living in is the only one we have. Who says it isn’t the best there is available? Pretty nice universe, too. Sun and moon and stars held together by a mysterious force® more suns beyond human knowledge. # * ' True, the conceptign of the - as one great happy lamily is a way off. Even normal smal A units have their frictions. Until the lion. is able to lie down with the lamb without endangering the lamb, there will be world friction, plenty of it, while the world stum- bles toward universal brotherhood. - Communities in the same area do not invariably see eye to eye. There is bickering over thé back fence. Neighbors’ dogs tear up the den, and there are hard feelin On a larger scale, this spells war. People have to learn to get along together, but it takes time thousand years ago was la the first conception of a wg where people were kind to other instead of a world where eye was demanded for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. 3 Family loyalty on a grand sca Our family, our town, wr state, our. country—and our world. ; We have so much to be thankful enough land to feed us. If fields do not produce enough, our scientists er yield. We have fuel. We have rolling plains and virgin forests. One look at the crowded high- ways, a glance ‘into a farmhouse kitchen, and we know that we have luxury beyond the wildest dreams of other countries. But what we do need, and need vitally, is an increasing sense of thankfulness that these things are so. Too many of us accept without a thought the product of our fore- fathers’ labors and hardships, their incredible courage in the face of We forget that these things were bought with a price. Thankfulness should not be ster- ile. -As faith without works is dead, Thanksgiving should be dynamic, not passive, leading to glad and capable acceptance of responsibility for keeping our own house in order and lending a willing hand to others. Sweet Valley School To Be Ready Dec. 20 Pupils To Visit New Classrooms Before Holidays Ross Township elementary pupils will not return to their one-room schools after Christmas, but will go directly to the new ' building in Sweet Valley. If the present sched- ule is maintained, with completion December 20, pupils will have a chance to acquaint themselves with their new quarters even before Raymon | ‘Hedden, 4 ntractor, e delayed. Heating units are now in every room, and heat has been turned on for some time. Walls are tinted, two-tone, varying with every room. Asphalt tile floors are being Furnishings are on the way, an chair units, readily mov- ldren will take trays to their ' classrooms at first, until the ral purpose room is cleared of icles at present stored there. Cafeteria plans include : installation of folding dining tables in this Members of Hots Township School Board, and Supervising Principal man-Jackson-Ross Township join- ture, met with Ross Township Au- thority Board, George Bronson, Ba- sil Steele, Caleb Hoyt, Robert Gray, and McKinley Long, at the new school Monday night to inspect fin- ished work and make blans for the official opening. Teeners League To Dine On December 7 Players, managers, coaches and umpires of the Bi-County Teeners Baseball League will be honored guests at a dinner to be given Mon- day night, December 7 at 6:30 at Kunkle Community Hall. All parents and friends are in- vited to attend. A silver offering will ‘be taken. There will be special entertain- ment and George Gay will show motion pictures. F Friends, parents and others inter- ested in the welfare of boys are asked to contribute foodstuffs, hams, vegetables, coffee, sugar, etc., for the dinner. They may make their contribution. by calling Victor Cross or Herman Kern. Commonwealth Is Fourth In Size The merger of the Tioga County Bell Telephone Company, Wellsboro, with ‘Commonwealth Telephone Company brings together two tele- phone companies that have worked closely together over the years. With the addition of Tioga’s 10 exchanges and approximately 6,000 telephones in parts of Lycoming and Tioga Counties, the Common- wealth Telephone Company will have 54 exchanges and almost 36,- 000 telephones serving parts. of 10 counties in Northeastern Pennsyl- vania. Of the 150 independent tel- ephone companies in Pennsylvania, Commonwealth now ranks fourth in number of telephones and 37th in size of the more than 5,000 inde- pendents in the nation. The former headquarters ex- change at Wellsboro will become the seventh District Office of Common- wealth and Ross Kimball, former wire chief for Tioga, will be the Thomas P. Garrity Edward W. Hall They are: Thomas Garrity, Har-¢ veys Lake real estate man; Edward W. Hall, Shavertown druggist; How- ard W. Isaacs, Trucksville Chrysler- Plymouth dealer, and L. L. Richard- son, Dallas Dodge-Plymouth dealer. The announcement followed the election Tuesday of the four men by the Board of Directors of Miners National Bank after their momina- tion had been presented by the Dallas Branch Advisory Committee. All are active in the commercial and community life of the Back Mountain = area. Their election gives wider representation to all sections of the Back Mountain area and increases the size of the Ad- visory Committee from seven to eleven members. Other members are: W. B. Jeter, vice president; Frederick J. Eck, assistant vice president; A. C. Devens, Clifford Space, Harold Titman, David Schooley, and Howard Risley. Thomas Garrity is an outstanding young real estate and insurance man who has been active in the civic and fraternal life of the Har- iN Lake community ever sine I discharge from the Air Force we conclusion of World War II. The son of the late Patrick J. and Bernadine Williams Garrity, he is a member of an old Back Moun- tain family. His maternal great, great grandfather was one of the first school teachers in Lake Town- ship. After the death of his par- ents, he was reared by his uncles, the ‘late Fay and Lyman Williams. He was graduated from Lake Township schools and took addi- tional work at Pennsylvania State School of Aeronautics, and electri- cal engineering at Pennsylvania State Extension School. During the war he was a lieuten- ant in the Eighth Air Force, seeing service in England and later piloted E-29s. Mr .Garrity is Adjutant of the 9543 Volunteer Air Reserve Train- ing Unit Squadron. He is a mem- ber of Daddow-Isaacs Post, Ameri- can Legion and is Vice Commander of the new Harveys Lake Legion Post. He is trustee of Daniel C. Roberts Fire Company; vice presi- dent and director of Harveys Lake Lions Club; treasurer of Lake Town- ship Ambulance Fund; chairman of the Board of Directors of Harveys Lake Rod and Gun Club, and’ mem- ber .of Greater Wilkes-Barre Real Estate Board. His wife is the former Mary De- laney of Harveys Lake. He is a member of Lady of Victory Parish and a member of its Holy Name Society. Edward Hall has been a practic- ing pharmacist since his graduation from Philadelphia College of Phar- macy in 1917. He is past presi- dent of Luzerne County Pharmaceu- tical Association and is presently chairman of the Committee on Con- stitution and By-Laws of the Penn- sylvania Pharmaceutical Associa- tion. He is vice president and director of Rural Building & Loan Associa- tion. Born in Dickson City, he first entered the retail drug business in Forty Fort before coming to Shav- ertown in 1933. His present air- conditioned store is one of the most modern in Pennsylvania. He and Mrs. Hall, the former Ccrdelia Weiland of Dickson City, have three children: Theodore, elec- trical engineer with General Elec- tric at Pittsfield, Mass., Jack and Ann, in business with their father, at home. Mr. Hall is a member of Forts Fort Methodist Church and all Ma- sonic bodies. Howard Isaacs is one ‘of the lead- ing young automobile dealers in = Luzerne County, having been Chrys- | ler-Plymouth dealer in Trucksville new district manager. for the past nineteen years. He is past president of Wyoming Valley Junior Chamber of Com- merce; director of Wyoming Valley Motor Club; past president of Wyo- ming Valley Automobile Dealers’ Association; member of Pennsyl- vania Automobile Association, and has taken an active part in the business life of the community. He is director of Rural Building & Loan Association; past president of Dallas Kiwanic Club, and is a member of Westmoreland Club and all Masonic bodies. The son of Ethel and the late Ray Isaacs, his family has for sev- eral generations been associated with the Back Mountain area. He is a graduate of Kingston Township High School where he was a leader in student activities. His wife is the former Lois Mow- ery of Kingston. He has one son, George. . L. L. Richardson who is serving his ‘second term as member of Dal- las Borough School Board, has been active in’ ‘all phases of civic and commercial life of the ‘Back Moun- tain area since 1938 wtien he estab- in Dallas. He is past president of the Dodge Dealers’ Association of Pennsylvania and is a member of the Dodge Dealers’ Advisory Con- ference of the New York region, an organization which promotes closer relationship between factory and dealer. He is treasurer of Dallas Borough School Board, and of the Joint School. District. He is past presi- dent of Rural Building & Loan As- sociation and ‘is a director of the Back - Mountain Teeners Baseball League. Born in Scranton, he graduated from ‘the Johnson ‘School. = ‘His wife is the former Grace Kane of Scran- ton. They have three boys, Tommy and Bobby, twins, outstanding ath- letes at Westmoreland High School, and Jimmy a pupil in Dallas Grade School. Mr. Richardson is a member of Dallas Methodist Church, Dallas Rotary Club and all Masonic bodies. Band Fund Drive Canvass From Door To Door A Success Westmoreland Band Parents As- sociation, meeting Monday night at the High School, reported approxi- mately $350 collection from Satur- day morning’s membership drive. There will be a few extra member- ships, as those residents in Dallas, Shavertown and Trucksville who were not at home when band mem- bers called, are contacted. The fund last year by sale of membership tickets with no house to house can- vass. Westmoreland band members not all being available for = Saturday morning soliciting, three boys not in the band but taking lessons from Lester Lewis, director, were pressed into service. Joey Peterson, Durelle Scott, and Dickie Clark scoured their immediate neighborhood and turned in a sizeable amount. Mrs. Don Clark and Mrs. Alton Sprout were in charge in Dallas, using their cars for band members. Mrs. William Strauser and Donald Perrin handled Trucksvill and Harold Croom and Mrs. Ne McDonald, Shavertown. Mr. Croom, president, wi thank residents for their coo tion. The fund will be us finance some bass horn equipm needed by the band, and to the annual spring banquet Driver Faces Serious Charge Joseph Hogan Posts $500 Bail For Court Joseph - Hogan, Lehigh Street, Wilkes-Barre, whose $25.50 fine on a reckless driving charge was re- turned: last week by Justice-of-the- Peace James Besecker after Judge W. Alfred Valentine and appeal taken on a technicality by Hogan’s attorney, James L. Brown, was re- arrested Friday by Chief Russell Honeywell on a drunken driving charge. Hogan, father of ten children, was driver of an automobile owned by Louis Banta which featured in a collision with an automobile owned by Viola Headman a week ago Sun- day morning at the intersection of Route 115 and 309 near Casper’s Restaurant. When arrested on the new charge which carries a possible fine of $100 and loss of driver's license, Hogan bail to appear before Luzerne Coun- ty Court. . Schools Close Today, Open December First Public schools in the Back Moun- tain will be closed for the first day of deer season, Monday, November 30. Students will have five days for the Thanksgiving recess, start- ing today (Wednesday) at 2 p.m. Lehman-Jackson-Ross schools will be delayed fifteen minutes in clos- ing, because of a matinee perform- ance of the senior play, “Spring Night.” Dallas Borough-Kingston Town- ship jointure, in making out its calendar, left a choice between Armistice Day and first day of deer season for a holiday. Students at- tended school on Armistice Day, along with the rest of the Back Mountain. Poor Turnout Francis Ambrose, chairman of the committee in charge of erecting Christmas lights in the borough, was the only member who reported at the Post Monday night for the first meeting of the season. L. L. Richardson — THANKSGIVING DAY — Be Governor John S. Fine has issued the following Thanksgiving Procla- mation: “Our Father, we thank Thee. “These simple words will be on our lips as we join this year in the traditional observance of Thanks- giving Day, Thursday, November 26th. They will rise in a great chorus from hearts overflowing with gratitude for the countless blessings which have been bestowed upon us. “The observance of Thanksgiving Day dates from 1621, when the Pil- grims, at Plymouth, set apart a day for thanksgiving immediately after their harvest. From that day of the Pilgrims to the present, reverent Americans have been thankful for the blessings bestowed upon ther. “Let us all be thankful that we breathe the air of freedom, secure in the heritage won for us by the faith and courage of the pioneers, who pushed back the wilderness, extended our frontiers, and founded a great Nation in the New World. “Let us be thankful that we live by the teachings of the Holy Bible and in the faith of our fathers. “Let us be thankful not bnly for our material progress, but for the increasing spiritual strength of our people, our churches, our schools and our homes. “THEREFORE, I, John S. Fine, Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, do hereby proclaim Thursday, November 26, 1953, as a legal holiday and as a day of Thanksgiving in this Common- wealth. I call upon our people to observe the day in their homes and in their places of worship in humble and grateful remembrance of the blessings that the citizens of this great State are privileg to enjoy. “FURTHERMORE, I ask that the Flag of the United States be dis- played from all appropriate places to symbolize our patriotic loyalty and devotion to the ideals of lib- erty, justice, and equal oppertun- ity which America holds forth as an example to the world; and that the Flag of Pennsylvania be dis- played as a token of our apprecia- tion of the many blessings which residents of this Commonwealth enjoy.” E The Back Mountain Region will be out to break all previous records for contributions to the March of Dimes when the Mothers’ March gets underway Tuesday evening, January 26, under the chairmanship of Mrs. James Trebilcox of Trucks- ville. The Mothers’ March, successfully used in hundreds of other commu- nities, has never been tried here before. Mrs. Trebilcox explained this week that the Back Mountain Community has been divided into districts with charge: Dallas Borough, Mrs. Harry Ohlman; Lehman, Mrs. Dorothy Ma- jor Baker; Huntsville, Mrs. D. L. Edwards, and Mrs. Harry Edwards; Harveys Lake, Mrs. Malcom Nelson; Shavertown, Mrs. Frederick Eck; Trucksville, Mrs. Willard Garey and Mrs. Richard Staub; Kunkle, Mrs. Walter Elston; Jackson, Mrs. Rus- sell Lamoreaux. Chairmen are still to be appointed for Carverton, Or- Purpose of the Mothers’ March, said Mrs. Trebilcox whose son Harry was stricken with polio last ear, is to collect contributions from all homes in the Back Mountain where porch lights are turned during the evening of January assist in this work, but none will be asked to call on more than ten or a dozen homes. Any woman who wishes to take part should contact her district chairman and volunteer her services: Block leaders will make their re- turns that night to their district leaders who in turn will make their returns to their local police head- quarters. Chief of Police Russell Honeywell of Dallas Borough has charge of the organization of police departments man; Chief Jesse Coslett, Kingston Township; Herbert Updyke, Kings- ton Township; Chief Edgar Hughes, Harveys Lake; Chief James Gansel, Dallas Township. Mrs. Trebilcox said the entire set-up will be explained at a meet- ing of all workers and police Tues- day night, December 8 at Back Mountain Memorial Library. At- tending the meeting will be Robert Pickup, president Luzerne County Chapter, National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis; Robert Kintzer, chairman 1954 March of Dimes, and Mrs. C. W. Bigelow, chairman of Women’s - Activities. The Helen Hayes film on the 1954 Mothers’ March will be shown. Miss Hayes lost her daughter, Mary MacArthur, ) Directors Vote To Stick With First Petition State's OK Hinges On Monroe Release By Wyoming County Fifteen Dallas-Franklin and Lake- Noxen school directors voted unani- mously Friday night to stand by their previously submitted petition for school jointure. This petition requests the County Board of Education ‘to allow the formation of a separate school joint- ure to consist of Lake-Noxen, Dallas- Franklin TFewnship and Monroe Township, if the latter is released from Wyoming County. ; E. S. Teeter, county superintend- ent, has promised the boards that a request for a survey of the pro- posed jointure will be forwarded to the State Council of Education by the County Board. This is a reversal on ‘the part of the county superin- tendent since he had previously stated that he would not recommend the petition of this separate jointure to the County Board. The Dallas-Franklin, Lake-Noxen directors have asked ‘that this sur- vey start after December 3, at which time it is expected a decision’ con- cerning the “release. of Monroe Township will be handed down by the Wyoming County Board of Ed- ucation. original plan to form a separate jointure, apart from - one which would include Dallas Bordugh- Kingston Township, throws out the possibility of sitting in committee with members of this latter jointure as was suggested by Teeter at the November 12 meeting. These com- mittees were, to have studied a larger jointure to include five town- ships plus the Borough. According to Raymond Kuhnert, supervising principal at Dallas- Franklin Township, this action by the various boards does not, in any way, shut the door on a possible larger jointure, at some later date, with the Borough and Kingston Township. Several of the school board mem- bers stated that it was their im- pression that Dallas Borough- Kings- ton Township boands were interest-- ed in a larger jointure but could not participate at this time in a building program. Consequently it was felt that, if crowded conditions at Dallas-Franklin and Lake-Noxen were to be. relieved, the two joint boards would have to act independ ently. Should Monroe Township be per- mitted to become a part of this new merger, by securing release from Wyoming County, the pupil enroll- ment of the proposed jointure will administrative unit. PTA Head At Meeting Charles Rineheimer, president of ‘Dallas-Franklin Township Parent- Teachers Association, told the direc- tors that the members of the asso- ciation are anxious to be informed of the latest development and “that present move. ‘A discussion of the new jointure will be on the agenda of the Jan- uary Dallas-Franklin Township PTA meeting. Few Apply For Postmaster Job Tuesday Is Last Day To File Applications Tuesday, December 1, is the last the U. S. Civil Service Commission for the postmaster = position in Trucksville. “ According ‘to an announcement by the Commission in Washington, received so far has not been suffi- cient for adequate competition. The current examination was announced under new qualifications standards agreed upon by the Post Office De- partment and the: Civil Service Commission. Officials of both of these agencies hope that the new examinations will attract a larger number of well-qualified applicants than has been obtained in the past. Application forms and further in- formation on the ‘examination are available in the post office. The forms must be filed by the deadline with the Civil Service Commission in Washington, D. C. Football Mothers Football and Cheerleaders Moth- ers will meet at the home of Mrs. Robert Shotwell, Hillcrest Avenue, Shavertown, Money Sveding at 8 p.m. ;
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers